Sill step for railroad cars



Dec. 24, 1940. E. T. DoHERTY SILL STEP FOR RAILROAD CARS Filed June 15, 1940 Patented Dee. 24, 1940 2,226,489

UNI-'rra srnras param" OFFICE SILL STEP FOR RAILROAD CARS Edward T. Doherty, Chicago, Ill., assigner to ApexV Railway Products Co., Chicago; Ill., a corporation of Delaware Application June`15, 1940, Serial No. 340,649

e Claims. (Cl. 10d- 443).

This invention relates to improvements in sill Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective View on a' steps for railroad cars and it' consists of the matfurther enlarged scale of a corner portion of one ters hereinafter described and more particularly of the counterpart members of which the impointed out in the appended claims. proved sill step is made.

5' The conventional silll step by which trainmen Referring now in detail to that embodiment mount and dismount from a railroad car, other of the invention illustrated in the drawing: 5 inthan a passenger car, usually consists of a U- dicates as a whole the body of a railroad box car shaped iron attached to and depending from the that includes a side 6, an end 1, a roof 8 and a sill of a car, and disposed in a position associside sill 9, allv arranged in a manner conven- 10 ated with either the side ladder or end ladder of tional in cars of the kind mentioned. On the l0? the car. Trainmen often mount and disrnount end 'I' of the car body are vertically spaced rungs from a moving car and often ride the car, While iii constituting one of the end ladders for the it is in motion, by standing upon said step. Uncar. On the side 6 of the car body are vertically der certain weather conditions, ice `forms on the spaced rungs ll constituting vone of the "side step and as the step has such a surface contour ladders for the car. K 15 that the weight of the trainmen standing on said' The side ladder is most often used by the 'train-` step Will not break the ice therefrom, an indeed men when boarding 2. Cal- HOWeVeI, the end hazardous footing is present for the trainmen. ladder may be used in Some instances for this One of the objects of the invention is to propurpose, while either ladder may be used in disvide a sill step for railroad cars, Which presents mounting from the car. y20 a safe anti-slip footing for trainmen in boarding i2 indicates aS a Whole the implOVed Sill Step or dism'ounting from a car or when standing on which is pendently Supported from the sill 9 in said step in riding said car. line with the side ladder of thecar as constituted Another object of the invention is to provide by the rungs Il before mentioned. Said sill step a sill step of this kind which is self-cleaning so has a general U shape when viewed in side ele- 25 that snoW cannot accumulate thereon and one Vetpn BLS in Fg- 1 and includes a hOIiZOIltally wherein. such ice that may form thereon is disposed step I3 and vertically disposed hangers cracked and broken therefrom, under the Weight 0r Supporting arms 4r-I4, one at each end of the of the trainmen. step I3. In the present instancathe upper end Again, it is an object of the invention to provide pOltOll 0f the hangers or arms i4 are engaged 30? a sill step which prevents endwise or sidewise iiatvvise against the outer face of the sill 9 and slipping of the foot of the trainmen whenswingare secured thereto as by bolts or Vrivets l5 as ing from a ladder on the associated end'of the appea-IS in Fig. 1- This brings the step portion car to the step, thereby insuring safety for the I3 the desired distance below the sill 9 of the trainmen. @M SS Also, it is an object of the invention to provide The improved Sill step is preferably made from a sill step which presents a better feel to the e pair 0f @Gunterpart bers, each including a horifoot of the trainmen. zontally extending, vertically edgeWise arranged Also, it is a further object of the invention to Y bar portion I6 and integral upwardly eXterldng 40 provide a sill step which although it is of simple bar pOYtOIlS l", each arranged With its faces 40 construction for low cost production, has a safety parallel With but in a Plane Offset 01' Speeed latfaetor beyond that required in sin Steps, erally from that of the faces of the bar portion The above mentioned objects of the invention, ls- Due t0 the Offset in planes between the p01- as well as others, together With the several ade tions I6 and Il, each end 0f the bal pOItOn I3 vantages thereof Will more fully appear as the is joined to the bottom end of the associated bal' 45 specification proceeds. portion I'I by a reversely curved corner portion In the drawing:V I3 as best apparent in Figs. 2 and 4. Each bar Fig. 1 is a View in side elevation of an end porpOItOIl l5 iS pI'OVded along its upper edge With tion of a railway box car to which the improved pIOJ'eCtOIlS I9 longitudinally spaced apart or sepsill step has been applied; arated by gulletS 20- 50 Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional View, on an en- In assembling the step, two counterpart bars larged scale, through the sill step as taken on are so arranged that the bar portions l1 of both the line 2--2 of Fig. 1; bars engage and register with each other. Said Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional View on the scale bar portions H of both bars are then secured toof Fig. 2 as taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, and gether either by bolting, riveting or Welding. In 55 Fig. 2 the bar portions II are shown as joined together by spot welding and which is indicated as at 2I. When said bars are so joined together, the portions II jointly form the hangers or supporting arms I4 of the step, while the now spaced apart bar portions IB coact to form the step portion I3 which is of a relative open construction. The bar portions I5 of the step are held in rigid spaced apart relation by spacers 22-22. As best shown in Figs. 2 and 3, each spacer comprises a short piece of relatively fiat bar stock of a length substantially corresponding to the spacing between the bar portion Iii-I6. The bar stock mentioned is wider than it is thick and the pieces thereof forming said spacers are disposed vertically edgewise with their ends engaged against and then welded to the inner faces of the bar portions IS. This welding is best shown at 23 in Fig. 2. When said spaces are so welded in place, the top edges thereof are disposed substantially ush with or slightly below the bottom surface lof the gullets 20 of said bar portions I6.

It is preferred that each projection I9 before mentioned be in the form of a truncated triangle so as to have a flat top portion I9a. The contour provided by the projections I9 and the gullets 20 is such that the truncated ends of said projections, while sharp enough to crack or break ice therefrom under the weight of the trainmen standing thereon are not so sharp as to` lacerate the hand grabbing thereat. The projections pro- Vide ample protection against the foot of the trainmen slipping either longitudinally or transversely as when swinging from an end ladder of the car to the step in dismounting from the car. Also, the use of the spacers 22, prev-ents the lateral collapse or bending of the bar portions I6 of the Step, under the downward and inward pressure exerted by the trainmen when standing on the step and hanging onto one of the rungs of the side ladder in the inclined position the trainmen assume when hand-signalling. Also, the spacers divide thejopen area of the step into smaller ones of such size that it is impossible for the trainman to stick his foot in between said bars in any maneuver he may go through in boarding or dismounting the car. However, such openings are not of such small size as to permit the building up of an accumulation of snow on the step to closev said openings.

From the above, it is apparent that the improved sill step presents a safe and comfortable standing surface for the trainmen regardless of weather conditions.

While in describing the invention, I have referred in detail to the form, arrangement and construction of the parts involved, the same is to be considered only in the illustrative sense so that I do not wish to be limited thereto except as may be specifically set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A sill step or the like for railroad cars embodying therein a relatively open step part including substantially parallel spaced apart barlike portions, means associated with the top edge of at least one of said bar-like portions for forming an anti-slip tread surface for the step part, end portions of both bar-like portions being formed to engage each other, and means for operatively securing the engaged end portions of said bar-like portions to a part of a railroad car for support thereby.

2. A sill step for a railroad car embodying therein a relatively open step part including substantially parallel spaced apart bar-like portions, means associated with the top edges of said barlike portions for forming an anti-slip tread surface for said step part, the end parts of said barlike portions being olfset laterally from the mid parts of said bar-like portions and the end parts of both bar-like portions being joined together, and means extending upwardly from both ends of the step part and adapted for attachment to a part of a ralroad car so as to be pendently supported therefrom.

3. A sill step for a railroad car embodying therein a relatively open step part including substantially parallel spaced apart bar-like portions, means associated with the top edges of said barlike portions for forming an anti-slip tread surface for said step part, the end parts of said barlike portions being offset laterally from the mid parts of said bar-like portions and the end portions of both bar-like portions being joined together, each bar-like portion having an upward extension at least at one end, said extensions being adapted for attachment to a railroad car so as to be pendently supported therefrom.

4. A sill step for a railroad car and made from two counterpart U shaped members, each including a horizontal portion and upwardly extending end portions, which are disposed in a plane offset laterally from the plane of said horizontal portion, the upwardly extending end portions of one U-shaped member being fixed to the like end portions of the other U-shaped member, saidhorizontal portions of both U-shaped members being formed to provide anti-slip tread surfaces', and means extending between said horizontal portions for spacing them apart.

EDWARD T. DOHERTY. 

